Shannon Matthews

[GIDDLEPIN]

It's just been on the news that a woman (suspected to be her mother) has been arrested for perverting the course of justice in the kidnap case.....................

Is it only me that ain't surprised?

[Aimee]

but if you were... why would u ring the police cuz she was missing :S

some people just really arent right in the head

[SJandMR2]

Attention, money, selling their story, cos they are not right in the head.

And no doesnt suprise me I thought this from the begining

[Phoenix999]

With the benefit of hindsight we can all say various things but when I first saw the film of the mother and the step-father I felt that something weird was going on Sadly it appears that this family is rather disfunctional but whatever happens I hope the the young lady gets help and improves the quality of her life and becomes a strong person.

[cfc1]

Not only that, Mike Donovan.. the suspected kidnapper.. has slashed his wrists in prison and Craig Meehan's mother and sister were also arrested as they are suspected to be involved. Craig Meehan.. who is Shannon's step dad.. is currently being held on "unconnected child !Removed! charges".... but is it unconnected??? who knows what could be going on.

[Parts-King]

The Police knew more about this from the beginning than they let on to, I'm sure one or more involved were already known to HM Contstabulary. Whatever happened will all come out in the wash eventually

Kingo

[Kev Mc]

Seems very weird, if nothing else it should ensure the poor kid ends up in a more stable environment because from the outside it looks like her current family is completely messed up

[Norfolk n Chance]

To be fair, i know where the estate is and know enough about it to avoid it.

Nothing really surprises me with this case.

[JappyBeast]

Poor girl being brought up by idiots - I weep for our future!

[Devil-ish]

Hmmm always knew there was something wrong when she didn't go straight home, was obvious wasn't it. Seems such a shame that there are families like this out there.

[flumpsfriend]

I agree, one of the first things would be to get Shannon's life back to normal, but not in this case - obviously something not quite right - hope she recovers from this.

I don't know what this world is coming to

[McLovin]

pathetic morons, the whole lot need putting down, there is no hope for any of them, what use or good will they ever do in their lifetime? NONE but sponge off of decent humans

i bet it was like a holiday for shannon under the bed, because i would rather be there then the sh1thole of the family home

[Bizarra]

I agree with all the previous sentiments. At least she has been found. Think of all the high profile kids who are still missing, & the ones we never hear about.

I did a long rant a couple of years ago & am not doing it again, about how the Human race is evolving.Half, hopefully , have moved on, & are kind to others, to animals etc. They care about our world & where it is going. The other half are either left behind or are evolving backwards.

It is caused, probably, by the growth of huge cities, in which ghettos are formed by lumping like minded people together in Estates. If someone is evil, or does wrong, their neighbours don't see it as wrong, or do nothing about it. When the majority of the population lived in villages or small towns, evveryone knew everyone, & kept an eye on each other. Public opinion ruled.

I know that this is a sweeping generalisation, but I think it is relevant

[JappyBeast]

It does seem that there are quite alot of unlightened people out there these days... some people are like cavemen with their yobish behaviour!

[PaulGP]

Should put all her kids in care - they may then have half a chance in life & lock her & anyone else involved away!

[Demonic Angel]

Her mother has been charged with perverting the course of justice and child neglect....

Linkage

Makes sense now why once found Shannon was not able to return home, what with her step-father having indecent images of children and her mother potentially neglecting her well-being....

I just hope Shannon comes out of this relatively unscathed and can lead a semi-normal life some time soon

[GIDDLEPIN]

The one frightening thing about all of this is that these are not a unique family, there are hundreds if not thousands with the same mentality (or lack of it) out there, breeding more cash machines, I say cash machines because that is the only thing they care about, not the tragic offspring they are producing.

[flumpsfriend]

Did I also hear on the news that they tried to scam the Find Madeleine McCann fund.

Disgraceful :censor:

[Kev Mc]

Did I also hear on the news that they tried to scam the Find Madeleine McCann fund.

Disgraceful :censor:

Apparently some1 claiming to be Shannon's auntie phoned the people in charge of the McCann fund asking for money & couldn't understand why they couldn't just give her a wad of cash

[Fizz]

Read this on another forum and though it raises a lot of good points regardless of what has come to light recently...

March 09, 2008

Poor Shannon's a victim of class

KAREN Matthews has seven kids by five different fathers. She lives in a scruffy council house on an impoverished council estate near Leeds.

Her boyfriend, who is ten years younger than her, looks both simple and scruffy, not surprising as Karen herself looks a bit rough around the edges.

Karen and her 22-year-old boyfriend, Craig Meehan, live just 100 miles from Kate and Gerry McCann.

But it might as well be a million.

Karen's little girl Shannon has been missing for 19 days—but you might not know that or even care, judging by the media coverage.

The problem is that Shannon Matthews isn't as pretty as Maddie McCann.

She's not blonde or cute or beautiful. You don't look at her and want to cry.

What do you think? Leave your comments here

The other problem is that her parents weren't on a posh holiday in Portugal when she went missing.

And in the only photos we've seen of her, she doesn't look angelic or entrancing—more like a naughty tomboy.

All of which might explain why the media coverage of Shannon's disappearance has been what some might call lukewarm—and others might call a !Removed! disgrace.

But I wonder if our media aren't just reacting to an unspoken mood in the country, a feeling that a woman who has seven kids by five different men and who isn't living with any of them, must be a pretty dire mother—and so must bear SOME of the responsibility for her missing daughter?

Come on. Admit it. What did YOU think when you first looked at Karen Matthews? What did you feel when you read her story, looked at how she lived? Was there a part of you that sneered and looked down on her because she didn't fit the image of the perfect mum—all smiles, posh clothes, ordered house?

Wasn't there a part of you that looked at her and thought, "living on benefits" and "never heard of the word contraception"?

Shannon Matthews has been missing for nearly three weeks and, apart from her immediate neighbours, no one seems to give a toss. Not the right profile, you see. Not the right class. And the media aren't entirely to blame for that.

Trash

I was brought up in an area just like the one where Shannon lives. I've never been to the Dewsbury Moor estate but I know about the people who live there. I know their values, their lives, their circumstances.

And, yes, while, there's a hefty percentage of what we might slate as "trailer trash" on that estate, there are just as many good, decent, disadvantaged people who, because of a lack of education, money, opportunity and ambition, find themselves stuck there—people who love their kids every bit as much as Kate and Gerry McCann love Maddie but who can never show it in the way they do.

It's not often I'm ashamed of myself or the values of the country I live in. But this week I am. Because I'm one of those people who initially sneered at Karen Matthews—who thought Shannon's disappearance had to do with the way she lived.

But this is an innocent child, for God's sake—a girl whose life is no more, no less valid than Maddie McCann's. A little girl who, if she is still alive, must be so terrified, so lost, so miserable, that it's unbearable to even contemplate.

But because she doesn't fit the template of The Angel Child of Professional Loving Parents, we've all but turned our backs on her.

Our reaction to her disappearance has been tepid. It's as if we're saying that disadvantaged Brits don't feel, don't hurt, don't "do" emotion in the same way the middle classes do. Which is tosh.

The harsh reality is that if we forget about Shannon Matthews, we're signing her death warrant. This mite needs our help even more than Maddie. It's not her fault but Karen Matthews just isn't capable of mounting sophisticated media campaigns. She doesn't have the wherewithal or the connections of the McCanns.

But she IS doing her damnedest to save her little girl—and we have to help her. Because she's hurting every bit as much as the McCanns are. Her agony, her angst, her guilt, eat into her soul just like they eat into Kate and Gerry's.

The fact is that evil is no respecter of class. It's everywhere—on the streets of rundown council estates AND on the white sandy beaches of Portugal.

Shannon Matthews' class and where she lives are irrelevant. She's a lost, frightened little girl and it is this nation's shame that we've not only judged her—we've abandoned her as well.

[GIDDLEPIN]

Read this on another forum and though it raises a lot of good points regardless of what has come to light recently...

Sorry but in my opinion that sounds like a load of tosh from either a right on PC brigade warrior or a social worker.

I was brought up and raised on council estates and know where my roots lie.

The media/police coverage was and still is more than adequate and I'm sure that right from the outset they, like many others thought that something wasn't quite right but had to follow procedures.

The outcome might not be what the family wanted but lets hope it is a step in the right direction for little Shannon.

[Boro Sera]

The outcome might not be what the family wanted but lets hope it is a step in the right direction for little Shannon.

2 more of the extended family arrested and questioned today.

The best thing for little Shannon would be to get fostered - If they were my family I'd have run away !

[GIDDLEPIN]

The outcome might not be what the family wanted but lets hope it is a step in the right direction for little Shannon.

2 more of the extended family arrested and questioned today.

The best thing for little Shannon would be to get fostered - If they were my family I'd have run away !

and hidden under your uncles bed?

[cfc1]

It is thought that the mother was trying to leave her boyfriend (and has been trying for sometime) the Uncle offered her a place to go and she agreed... the uncle picked Shannon up from school and took her home... the mother then bottled out of it and reported her daughter missing.

It has also been reported that as soon as Shannon was interviewed, she told the police her mother knew where she was all along, this is why she wasn't re-united with her family right away.

There is definitely something not right with this family.. and IMO it's the kids that are bearing the brunt of it. All the police can do is investigate the case and hopefully get to the truth.. then do everything in their power to protect these kids... one thing is for sure, the pervert of a boyfriend should be kept well away from them.. as for the mother.. if the above reports are true, then perhaps the kids would be better off without her in the long run.

[+Steve]

I guess she will be sharing Cell Block H soon then ? LOL

what a resemblance